Justices on the high court ruled 5-4 to grant the administration’s request to lift the stay, in a temporary victory for Trump and his allies.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted President Donald Trump’s request to vacate a lower court’s ruling barring the administration from using a 1798 wartime immigration law to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals – including alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang – from the U.S., marking a significant victory for the administration as it advances key immigration priorities.
Justices on the high court ruled 5-4 to grant the administration’s request to lift the stay, in a temporary victory for Trump and his allies.
At issue was the Alien Enemies Act, or the immigration law passed by Congress in 1789 to immediately remove certain migrants from U.S. soil.
Prior to Trump’s second White House term, it had been invoked just three times in U.S. history: During the War of 1812, during World War I, and most recently, World War II.
Lawyers for the Trump administration had urged the court to vacate the lower court ruling, arguing in a Supreme Court filing that the lower court orders “rebuffed” their immigration agenda, including their ability “to protect the Nation against foreign terrorist organizations and risk debilitating effects for delicate foreign negotiations.”
The ruling follows a temporary order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last month blocking the administration’s use of the 1798 law for 14 days while he considered the case on its merits – a pause upheld by a federal appeals court in a 2–1 decision.
“Nazis got better treatment” than some of the migrants deported under the law, Judge Patricia Millett, an Obama appointee, remarked during the appellate hearing.
Both Boasberg and the appellate panel sharply questioned the administration over Trump’s proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals – and over the three planes that removed hundreds of migrants to El Salvador the very next day.
At least 261 migrants were deported that day, including more than 100 Venezuelans removed “solely on the basis” of the 1798 statute.
